Chris Lombardi puts defense and security under the spotlight, as he shares his takes on recent NATO and EU cooperation and provides insight into the company’s own long-term strategic partnerships in Europe.

Three trends are currently driving the global electricity sector: decarbonization, decentralization and differentiation. Utilities are making significant contributions to mitigate carbon emissions, while a technology revolution is …

GERMANY MOVES THE DIAL ON ASYLUM QUOTAS: The Guardian breaks the story that Germany is now pushing hard to revamp Europe’s handling of refugees, demanding a quota system so all 28 countries share the burden. Currently Germany and Sweden take in most of the migrants who arrive on Europe’s southern borders http://bit.ly/1ERkQsv

JUNCKER TOO: The Commission president is interviewed in today’s “Le Monde” http://bit.ly/1DLbcBU. He also wants quotas for distributing refugees, as Parliament called for yesterday. Other bites: Ukraine — “a member of the European family”; Putin — “I have a good relation with him”; Mediterranean refugee crisis — “I was not very happy about the results of the recent European summit;” Brexit — “I don’t want Great Britain to leave the Union, but I refuse that UK imposes an agenda that is not approved by the other members.”

PARLIAMENT MIGRATION WRAP — KEY VOTES: 1) MEPs adopted a resolution calling for more EU action to address migration. Final vote tally: 449 in favor, 130 against and 93 abstentions. 2) The assembly also supported a demand for EU national governments to show solidarity in dealing with refugees, with 550 votes in favor, 123 against and 15 abstentions.

WINNERS TO THE LEFT, WINNERS TO THE RIGHT: The European People’s Party (EPP) and the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) both declare themselves satisfied with the votes on migration. The EPP is pleased with the binding quota for the distribution of asylum seekers among all member states, and the ring-fencing of border control money (so that rescue money should be extra, not cutting into border control). S&D believes the EP sends a strong message against the “selfishness of some European governments” and will now focus on the Commission’s long-term migration strategy, due on May 13. The Commission also seems satisfied: A spokesperson says “we are happy with our President’s speech and the support he got from the EP when he delivered it.”

WHO LOST? The Liberal group (ALDE) got less of what they wanted than the two big party groups, but the Greens and Left (GUE) failed to gain traction for lifting visa requirements for Syrian refugees.

OTHER EP VOTES OF INTEREST — “A GLASS OF WINE = A SLICE OF CAKE”: The Parliament voted in favor of labeling alcoholic products so drinkers know how fat it could make them. Marc Tarabella, the MEP in charge of consumer protection for the S&D group, has been particularly vocal. More angles here http://bit.ly/1bVwyWB

LE PEN CNBC INTERVIEW: The French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen took time out from intra-party and intra-family feuds to blame the Crimea occupation on the EU. She also called the Greek bailout a “euro dictatorship.” http://cnb.cx/1ERp57m

HUNGARY’S VIKTOR ORBAN AGAIN CAUSING EU HEADACHES >>>

1) IMMIGRATIONCONSULTATION: The Hungarian government has generated another backlash after prodding citizens to agree with strict immigration policies with a public consultation that includes what many say are leading questions.Here’s the FT take: http://on.ft.com/1QMl5bI.Here is the questionnaire: http://wp.me/a4MXoN-PYwS&D Group President Gianni Pittela was damning in his comments to Playbook: “It is unacceptable to exploit such a huge humanitarian tragedy for some mean national purpose. Running after extremists is a dangerous game.” The ALDE group was equally negative. A European Commission spokesperson called the consultation “ill-conceived” and said it should not be used as a basis for policy-making. Human Rights Watch is also fuming http://bit.ly/1JCcnup

2) ORBAN OPEN TO DEATH PENALTY: “Capital punishment must be kept on the agenda,” he said Tuesday in Pécs. http://bit.ly/1P5y6cx It took a while to get going, but the backlash is real and growing.

DEATH PENALTY REACTIONS: The Commission reiterated its opposition to the death penalty, which for EU member states is a treaty requirement. Commissioner Avramopolous said to Parliament, “The death penalty is never the answer.”

WHY IS ORBAN DOING THIS? The extreme-right party Jobbik is now the second-biggest in Hungary. “Jobbik says the EU and Orbán elite are both against you,” one respected Hungarian journalist tells Playbook. So, the thinking goes, Orbán needs to avoid being tarred as an elitist like the EU. For now the EPP group criticizes the approach, without penalizing the man behind it.

THE PARLIAMENT’S “PRINCE OF DARKNESS”: Former Commissioner Peter Mandelson will be glad to give up the title, but is Klaus Welle willing to take it? MEPs want to push it on the European Parliament’s secretary general, it seems, after voting Wednesday to call him out for not answering “a series of questions asked by members.” They also want him to work with them on the budget and to complete a questionnaire.

WINDOW ON MICROSOFT LOBBYING: Forget Goldman Sachs and Google. The EU Transparency Register reveals that Microsoft is the most deeply embedded tech company in the European institutions. Armed with a big and swanky “Innovation Centre” positioned between the Parliament and the Commission, Microsoft is a member of 21 associations and involved with 12 think tanks (compared to Google with 15, Facebook with 13 and Deutsche Telekom with 13). http://bit.ly/1KslmMq.

BIG SPENDERS: Microsoft spends more than €4.5 million on its lobbying. It uses more external consultants as lobbyists than any other tech company (six) including big-hitters in the PR world APCO (€100,000 plus), Brunswick (€200,000 plus) and Edelman (under €25,000). But they spend most on the Danish boutique outfit Cabinet DN (€300,000-€399,999).

LOBBYING TREND: Many big tech companies are hiring multiple lobbying consultancies. Others keep it in-house. Intel is notable for being a big tech firm that is not using consultants as lobbyists, according to its filing: http://bit.ly/1HPPxxg

MEA CULPA 1: Yesterday I mentioned that the hypothetical duo of Commissioner Margarethe Vestager and potential Director-General Nadia Calvino would be a rare same-sex pairing. h/t to Clémence Arto for pointing out that there at least seven male European Commissioners working with a male DG. It is just the female pairing that is rare.

MEA CULPA 2: My 5 am butter-brain suggested that Roberta Metsola was from the S&D group in the European Parliament when she is in fact from the centre-right EPP. Metsola graciously accepted my apology by email. Thank you to all those who pointed out the error.

BEERS FOR PRIVACY: German MEP Jan Albrecht is an innovator — and now that extends to free beers if you are willing to talk data protection with him: http://bit.ly/1OEj5n6

COMMISSION TOUGHENS UP ON ROMA SCHOOL SEGREGATION: Slovakia is the second member state to be hit with an infringement procedure for breach of EU anti-discrimination law http://on.ft.com/1beXQG6, after the Czech Republic. Hungary is also playing the same deck, and could be the third country to face court action: http://bit.ly/1DWCl47

INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE FORCED OUT OF UKRAINE: Rebels in the east accuse it of spying, reports the BBC of the David Miliband-led organization: http://bbc.in/1ErQNEr

DIGITAL SINGLE MARKET PRIMER: a compilation of reports from the neutral researchers at the European Parliament http://bit.ly/1AfphGe

BIG DATA 4 BIG LUNCHES: h/t Ben Rooney and Liam Boogar for spotting this big-data-supported defense of the long French lunch. http://bit.ly/1DBCmdh

SCOTTISH CLEAN SWEEP FOR NATIONALISTS – POLL 1: Labour is just 3 points ahead of the Tories in Scotland, and 34 points behind the SNP. All 59 seats could go SNP’s way http://bit.ly/1QKuZua. Buzzfeed’s Jamie Ross is not surprised;“I’m on a bus from Milnathort to Stirling and the number of SNP posters up in windows is bananas,” he tweeted. “I can’t turn my head without seeing one.”

BREXIT VERY UNPOPULAR IN THE CITY — POLL 2: New survey shows five times as many financiers want Britain in rather than out of the EU. http://bit.ly/1DBE5iG

BIRTHDAY CALL: Want to see more than just MEP and Commissioner birthdays listed here? Send in your friends and your boss’ big date, all contributions earn h/t (hat-tips).

WANT TO BE AN EU SPOKESPERSON? Then become a press officer inside the spokespersons’ service, as your stepping stone. Commissioner Violeta Bulc is looking for transport support. Email joshua.salsby@ec.europa.eu. Be quick — because Joshua Salsby certainly is. He’s aiming to complete the 2015 Brussels 20km race in a sizzling 1hr 10mins.

WHAT AMERICAN JOURNALISTS ARE READING: Pew Research “State of the News Media 2015” report. If you are reading this on your mobile, congratulations: you are the zeitgeist. http://pewrsr.ch/1AgF9s2

WHAT IS FRENCH FOR ZEITGEIST? Paris is all shaken up over a reform of school programs that would take German out of the state curriculum. MEP Sylvie Goulard wonders (in French) on her website if German will become the preserve of the wealthy, and if “European classes” will be next http://bit.ly/1zpZ7pF. La Croix covers the issue here http://bit.ly/1bEenUz

WHAT FRANCE IS READING — DEFENSE SPENDING UP: France will increase its defense budget by €3.8 billion over four years from 2016. http://reut.rs/1GvrPm2

WHAT FRANCE WILL BE READING — CHILD ABUSE BY SOLDIERS REPORT: and the diplomatic row it could spark after a whistleblower is threatened with dismissal by UN. From Vice: http://bit.ly/1DDwsZ1 From the Guardian: http://bit.ly/1GxRdYk

WHAT GREEKS AREN’T READING: The WSJ runs a story about how the leftist Greek government portrays its economic program at home http://on.wsj.com/1JCcFkX

HAPPY INFRINGEMENT DAY! The European Commission groups its “infringement” announcements into a monthly day of public finger-wagging at national governments. You can read the full list here: http://bit.ly/1Kuq6Bj. Among the 120 decisions are six court referrals, the last and most serious stage of action.

TAX JUICE #1 — ALL OR NOTHING: The conclusion from a major tax accountants conference at the European Economic and Social Committee (http://bit.ly/1dumT9O): it’s all or nothing on tax reform. OECD tax department “rock star” Pascal Saint-Amans warned against unilateral action by EU countries (because it risks leading to double taxation); Martin Kreienbaum, director-general of international taxation at the German Finance Ministry, said: “Tax competition is good, but it cannot be unlimited.” Luxembourg Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna was light on details, but did admit: “There’s a perception [now] that everyone should pay his fair share.”

TAX JUICE #2 — HODGE DODGE The UK’s parliamentary tax avenger Margaret Hodge has been caught benefitting from £1.5 million worth of shares from a family company,“Stemcor,” which were returned to Britain tax free via the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF). http://dailym.ai/1JBjP9f

STAT OF THE DAY — LITTLE GERMANY: The population in Germany is set to fall by 13 million in coming decades, according to the country’s federal statistics agency http://bit.ly/1JA0jd5. Meanwhile, in France, tax credits, childcare and other supports have been boosting the French population for years. Biggest EU population is now within their sights.

SECOND LOOK — UK IN IDENTITY CRISIS, SAYS CHATHAM HOUSE: The think tank warns of costs if Brits don’t choose to snap out of their navel-gazing http://huff.to/1HQpCpf

WELCOME TO FLANDERS: Belgium’s Flanders integration requirements for newcomers may soon be applied to EVERY non EU-citizen who moves to the region within five years of arriving in Belgium, regardless of whether they first lived in Brussels or Wallonia. http://bit.ly/1QKu2SC

NEPAL MISSION: European Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Stylianides is on his way to Nepal today, part of what he says is his personal and European “moral duty” to support Nepal’s struggle to deal with recent earthquakes. EU countries have provided over €25 million in relief aid.

NEW IN TOWN — “FOOD EUROPE” THINK TANK: food, agriculture, environment. More at http://farm-europe.eu and @FarmEurope.

NEW EU BOOK OUT MAY 1: “The Making of a European President” is the story of the “spitzenkanditen” process and the election of Jean-Claude Juncker as Commission president, by Nereo Peñalver Garcia and Julian Priestly http://bit.ly/1ODSzdz

FOND FAREWELL: Manouche Roose retires today — or takes “les grandes vacances” as she refers to it. She’s spent the last 25 years working for five different Dutch commissioners in their respective cabinets.

EVENTS: If you want to joint the next Commission “START UP EUROPE” workshop in the Parliament with MEP Eva Paunova and others, on May 4, you need to sign up this week: http://bit.ly/1drHOKA

**A message from GE: Powering your flying experience. Learn more at http://invent.ge/1Fc6OAs** Thanks to improvements in aircraft technology, long gone are the days where you had to crane your neck to watch the same movie as everyone else. On board computers and avionics systems have put interactive screens in the back of everyone’s seat. But all that interactive technology comes at a price: power. No wonder, then, that both airlines and plane manufacturers are investing billions to ensure they have enough electricity on board to enhance customers’ flying experiences. The essential work to achieve this is being done behind the scenes. Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company, recently awarded a contract to GE Aviation to provide the Electrical Load Management System (ELMS) and backup generation power to the latest addition to the Boeing aircraft portfolio, the 777x. Learn more at gereports.eu**